SAN FRANCISCO — Rocker Sammy Hagar is by now well known as a successful spirits entrepreneur thanks to his Cabo Wabo tequila and his new partnership with Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine on Santo mesquila.

But Hagar is also showing a talent for putting together a different kind of strange and lively brew, this one consisting of music stars corralled to raise money for pediatric cancer.

Hagar's fourth annual Acoustic-4-A-Cure concert Monday at the fabled Fillmore here had echoes of those incongruous but delightful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction concerts, where icons from yesterday and tomorrow share the same stage.

After all, there aren't too many other places you'll get to see Grateful Dead stalwart Bob Weir, Canadian siren Sarah McLachlan, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and rock pioneer Pat Benatar with her bandmate/husband Neil Giraldo.

But the hit-makers kept on coming: Mick Fleetwood manned the drums with his impish grin, guitar ace Steve Vai provided stellar accompaniment and Don Felder led a "Hotel California" sing-along for the roughly 1,000 attendees who paid between $150 and $500 to benefit researchers with the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.

And leading the musical madness was Hagar, who kicked off the show by debuting a new song called "Father Time" (Hagar turns 70 this fall and has the energy of a 50-year-old) and dusting off a Van Halen-era classic, "Right Now."

"In some ways, getting this show together is one of the most stressful things I do," Hagar told the crowd. "But in many other ways, it's always the highlight of my life."

Hagar's usual compadre for the benefit, Metallic singer/guitarist James Hetfield, sent the crowd his regrets via video from a tour stop back east. But those on hand more than made up for his absence, delivering two- to four-song acoustic sets that fit well into the historic venue's small confines.

Weir in particular seemed at home, fitting given how many times the Grateful Dead took the stage at this Bill Graham-run edifice.

The grey-bearded musician, a longtime neighbor and friend of Hagar's in nearby Marin County, had the most freeform set, which made Vai and Fleetwood look keenly for his visual cues as one song blended — Dead-style — into the next.

After a haunting version of the Dead's "Peggy-O," Weir played his Bobby & The Midnites classic "Easy to Slip," followed by a hard-charging version of "The Other One."

Felder was up next, tipping his hat to the late Glenn Frey before launching into "Tequila Sunrise." Felder famously had a tough time in The Eagles, but when he and Vai ripped through the memorable lead guitar riff in "Hotel California," it was clear to see how influential Felder was on that epic band's sound.

Hagar then introduced McLachlan as having "the voice of an angel," and the siren delivered on that compliment by delivering haunting versions of "Possession" and "Beautiful Girl," the first, she explained, a song about a stalker and the second "about the joys of motherhood."

When it was Benatar and Giraldo's turn, the veteran rockers did not disappoint. Though Benatar was casually perched on a stool, the singer put her whole body into classic rock-era staples such as "Love Is A Battlefield" and "Heartbreaker." Age doesn't seemed to have knocked on her door.

The much-anticipated appearance of Grohl put a nice bow on the show, with the former Nirvana drummer turned frontman debuting a new song called "The Sky Is A Neighborhood."

Grohl, who was backed by Foo Fighters bandmate Taylor Hawkins on drums and collaborator Rami Jaffee, told the crowd that he decided to perform the new tune on the spur of the moment.